


Live In

by paperdollkisses



Category: NSYNC
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Nanny!Chris, SingleDadLance!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2014-01-30
Packaged: 2018-01-10 13:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1160269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperdollkisses/pseuds/paperdollkisses





	Live In

The stack of folders on his kitchen table was dwindling. The first cut had been easy. He’d paged through the profiles and cut out anyone that was under a certain age. He couldn’t believe the agency actually sent out files on teenagers. Not that he was discriminating of course, any person any age could harm his children. His parents had made the second cut by doing primary interviews. Lance thought his mom was one of the best judges of character he knew. He had his favorites of the ones they picked but he went through the second round of interviews by himself while his kids were with their grandparents. After interview number five with a highly qualified nanny who had the personality of a stick he began to wonder if he should just continue to reimburse his sister for watching Katie and James. Then the guilt that he was using her set in and he opened up the next file with a sigh of resignation.

Chris made his way slowly to the door. Noting the perfectly groomed yard that probably took more time to keep up than his personal appearance. A wry grin curved his lips as he took the wide steps onto the porch and pressed his finger to the doorbell. The absence of stomping feet and little faces as the door opened surprised him. These must be some well mannered kids. The man that opened the door was dressed in a perfectly fitting grey suit and looked as polished as the lawn.

“So is this considered a sprawling southern plantation or just mildly stretched from a normal homestead?”

Lance blinked in surprise at the question his mouth open slightly as he looked at the speaker. There was no doubt it was his next interview. The picture in his profile was of this man from the crazily spiked hair to the friendly grin. He took in the casual attire of jeans, tee shirt and sports jacket in the amount of time it took for Chris to hold out his hand.

“I’m Chris Kirkpatrick. Your two o’clock nanny appointment although I think I’d prefer to be called an au pair. It sounds more exotic you know. So, hi.” he shook Lance’s hand firmly. He had seen pictures of this man in the Bass’s home.

“Hi.” Lance returned the handshake. “Lance Bass. It’s not sprawling actually, just overly large.” his smile started to match the other mans. “Please come in.”

“Thanks.” Chris followed Lance into what he thought might be called a sitting room. Large comfortable room with couches that looked like they were made for company. He settled into the corner of one with a sigh of happiness.

“Tea?” Lance quirked an eyebrow at him and poured a glass at his nod. “So Chris. Tell me why you want to be a nanny for my kids.” he was a little amused still. “Sorry au pair.”

Chris took a long drink of tea, noting that it was sweet and very cold. “This tea for one thing. I love the way people make tea out here.” His eyes crinkled up as he smiled. “Why I want to take care of the Bass children? Well first, I like kids a lot. I’ve never actually been an official nanny. I took care of all my brothers and sisters and most recently my sisters kids. I was hanging out with some new friends I’d made and one of them jokingly suggested I become a nanny like Mary Poppins. Well, we laughed and poked fun at the idea. But the next day I was like ‘well why not’ I mean I am good at taking care of kids, I’m responsible, I like to play with toys. It just all fit. So I did a little research, interviewed with the company you chose me from and here I am ready to take care of your kids.”

Lance had watched Chris say all this on a single breath with animated hand gestures. Well personality certainly wasn’t missing from this one. “Your references are all excellent but sounds like they are all from family. They may be a little biased in your favor don’t you think?”

Chris actually blushed. “Well really, I’ve only cared for family. I figured with as many different last names as I have in the family it might not be obvious that the references were all from them but I guess my big mouth speaks before I think about it.” he leaned forward. “I do have references from other jobs that prove the responsibility part without any family involvement though. That should count right? As you can see I am educated, I know right from wrong, have a car, I don’t have a temper and to top all of that goodness I have a sparkling smile.” He smiled that smile with confidence. “Also, you took fingerprints and had them FBI checked. It’s a little sad the world has come to that isn’t it?” he shook his head “I know CPR, how to swim, how to wash clothes and cook, have never got a speeding ticket... well except for one time in college and it SO wasn’t my fault... and I always wear my seatbelt. I’ve even been told that I rock at helping with homework.”

Lance started laughing, a deep rich sound that wrapped around Chris and curled his toes. As he watched the man across from him settle back more comfortably in the chair he realized that he’d probably just gotten the job. Sometimes it paid to be himself. This was going to prove to be an interesting experience.

\---

Chris showed up bright and early on the day he was scheduled to start watching the Bass children. He’d met them once for a few hours and it just reinforced his initial thoughts that these were some of the most well mannered children he’d ever met. Katie was four and absolutely adorable in her little frilly dress and sparkling white shoes just like a fairy tale princess. James however was dressed as no six year old boy should ever have to be except for family pictures. The pressed beige slacks and sweater vest were in pristine condition. Chris had been yes and no sir’d to death very pleasantly. Today as he stood in the foyer with the manilla folder of do’s and don’ts and emergency phone lists and he thought there were even instructions on how to douse for water included in there.

Both of the children were sitting at the kitchen table quietly having a breakfast which Chris would swear had all the food groups in it. He thought fondly of his two bowls of frosted flakes and cup of coffee.

“Good morning Katie and James.” he sat down across from them and smiled. “Getting a good healthy breakfast I see. That is very important.”

“Yes sir.” James even ate with his elbows off the table.

“Daddy says it’s the most important thing we eat. Daddy says if we don’t eat enough we will be tired all day.” Katie told him with the tone of a thirty year old. “Daddy says it makes us need more naps.” she wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like naps.”

“Me neither kiddo.” Chris shook his head. “When I was young I used to pretend I was asleep until my mom left the room and closed the door then I’d get up and play. I had to be really quiet though. My mom had eagle ears and if she heard me that guaranteed at least two more naps that day.” he rolled his eyes. “Do you know how hard it is to be quiet sometimes?”

Katie nodded and Chris smiled a little wider. James was quiet paying an inordinate amount of attention to the straw in his orange juice. Chris had a feeling he would be a tougher nut to crack. It would be a day of bonding with Katie since it was an off day at preschool. When both kids actually picked up their plates from the table and took them to the sink he had to raise an eyebrow again. James showed him his Spiderman lunch box shyly.

“Dude. Spidey was the coolest. I mean sure, superman was faster than a speeding bullet, but he couldn’t shoot webs and wrap up the bad guys. He just had to take like a steel bar and wrap it around them. Lame right?” he jumped around and mimed shooting webs at everything until the two kids were laughing. “Plus, he could stick to the ceiling. You could get away with all sorts of stuff if you could do that.”

“Like surprise all the bad guys and capture them without even breathing hard.” James was dragging his rolling book bag out of the other room. He was smiling now.

“Just think man, you could hang upside down and use your spidey web to clean up your room.”

“That would be cool.” he looked a little envious at that thought.

“Jimmy’s always getting in trouble for his room being a pig sty.” Katie giggled.

‘Jimmy’ blushed at that. “Well it’s never really dirty. Just my stuff on the floor.”

Chris was leading them outside and towards the car. “My mom used to tell me I need a dump truck to clean out my room.”

Both kids laughed at that and Chris felt a sense of accomplishment by the time he had gotten back from dropping Jimmy off at school. The first day was going pretty well and it wasn’t even really started yet. For the most part the day was a play date. Katie was very much like his sisters and their girls. They had the marathon tea party and he was introduced to every single stuffed toy in the room. There wasn’t much to do in the way of cleaning. Chris spent the time while Katie was napping to explore the house a little more thoroughly. It really was huge. He’d been shown around by Lance but he may have been paying a little more attention to Lance than the house.

It had been a hard call, Chris mused, whether or not to tell his employer he was gay or not. Sure there were laws about discrimination for all sorts of things but the truth was there are card carrying homophobes in the world and the reaction to people finding out he was gay had varied from acceptance to outright anger. In the end Chris had simply decided that Lance didn’t need to know and he was as comfortable with his decision as he was with his self. He had gotten a good initial impression about the guy anyway. Sure he was a bit overprotective. But being a single dad was a tough thing. Whoever had decided that men weren’t as kid oriented as women. They were wrong.

He had looked through all the rooms, closets and medicine cabinets by the time Katie woke up and it was time to go pick up Jimmy from school. Armed with new secret ammo from snooping in Jimmy’s room it was easy to bridge the silence when the boy climbed into the car. The short time it took for snacks and to help Jimmy write his page of letters with Katie showing her doll how to do the same thing  
helped to further ease the awkwardness of getting to know them. They went down to the park and Chris watched for a few minutes while the kids played. The now familiar shyness coming back out in full force as Jimmy pushed Katie on the swing rather than join in with the other boys.

Chris remembered how that was. He’d moved around enough to know that the two boys in the jean jackets were best friends and had known each other since birth. It was hard to get in that circle. Then the girls maybe a year older than Katie who would just think she was a baby and too young to play with. There were slim pickings in the park for pals that was for sure. Chris walked over two where the two were swinging and leaned over Jimmy.

“Hey Katie.” He waited until she looked at him before grinning big and tapping her little shoulder. “Tag. You’re it.” he winked at Jimmy before stepping back and starting to whistle.

In the time honored tradition of kids everywhere Katie let out a screech that would have made grown warriors drop and beg to be tagged as she slid off the swing. She was quick too. Chris got tagged back before he was ready to move. He had to laugh though because she took off like a light giggling at him. He made monster claws and did the big tiptoe towards her as she watched him carefully then he turned and tagged Jimmy. That set off the chase between the three of them and soon every kid in that park was yelling and chasing each other. Chris would pick up Katie an fly her like an airplane so she could tag the older kids then make her fly off again so she could run. They didn’t stop until the light started to dim the day. The kids actually pouted when told it was time to go home. Quite the change from the sullen expressions they had had when he’d suggested the park in the first place.

Chris started dinner while Katie and Jimmy settled in to rest and watch cartoons. Spaghetti with meatballs because Jimmy had declared meatballs were his favorite food in the entire universe and Katie thought butter bread was yummy. He just had the kids set down at the table to eat when Lance got home. To say the kids were excited was an understatement. They laughed and hugged Lance hard and dragged him to the table by his jacket sleeves. It was clear that they adored their dad and he returned their affection. Chris felt a little swell of his heart to see it. He pilled another plate with food and sat it in an empty spot on the table while Lance washed his hands before joining them.

“So, a good day was had by all then?” Lance raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Chris. His eyes shining with the excitement of the kids. He’d been bombarded by all the things they’d done that day in between bites of food.

“Yeah, it was fun. We’re gonna be good.” Chris was caught a little off guard by the thrill of attraction that went through him.

Lance smiled. “I had a feeling that might be the case.” returning his attention to his food.

\---

“No, I’m telling you it is unnatural C, like, Stepford child crazy weirdness.” Chris’ neck was a little sore from holding the phone between ear and shoulder. “Hang on a sec.” He took the phone and put it down on the counter hitting the speaker button with a bubble covered finger. “You’re live with Chris Kirkpatrick, nanny to the stars. Caller what’s your name?” he grinned and picked up the scrub brush and started on another fork.

JC laughed, “So, it’s odd that the dad taught the kids good hygiene?”

Chris shook his head. “No dude. It’s creepy that they brush for exactly 2 minutes. There’s a timer and everything.” He picked up another fork. “It is a spidey egg timer, which I’ll admit is pretty damn cool and I need one myself for timing the pizza delivery guy… but… I am getting off topic. They know when I don’t set it right.” He told JC in mock outrage.

“This is creepy weird on what level? Scale it from crazy au pair scrubbing silverware before putting it in the dishwasher to say… really hot single dad perfection.”

“You know that food gets stuck on fork tines and that grosses me out and I’m never talking to you about Lance again.” Chris stuck his tongue out at the phone before surveying the spoon in his hand. “Besides, I like the bubbles.”

JC’s sigh was one of long suffering friendship complete with its own eye roll.

“Is that daddy?” Katie dragged a chair over to where Chris was.

Chris jumped. She could be a quiet when she wanted. “Holy COW, it’s a stealthy ninja spying on me. Don’t give her anything but your name rank and favorite cereal dude.”

“I’m JC, is this Katie?” JC smiled at the phone.

“Yes. JC? That’s not a real name.” Katie pointed out leaning over the phone, one foot kicking the cabinet softly.

“I told you Jayce. She’s smart. Master interrogator by the time she’s 5. Watch.”

“Is that like a algator? I saw those on TV. Big teeth.” She made teeth with her fingers.

“No, it means you ask good questions.” JC answered before Chris could.

She nodded knowingly. “Chris says I’m good at asking stuff. I can get secrets out of everybody, even Daddy.”

JC raised his eyebrows “What kind of secrets does your daddy have?”

Katie lowered her voice to a loud whisper. “He wears his red tie when we eat skettis in case he spills.”

“Oh, that’s a good secret.” Chris whispered loudly too.

“Chris has a secret too. But I don’t tell daddy.”

Chris was almost afraid to ask but JC wasn’t.

“What is Chris’ secret?”

“He’s got too’s on his leg. Daddy doesn’t like too’s.”

Chris took a second less than JC to get it. “I’ll make sure I wear long socks then. That way I won’t get in trouble. Thanks pal.” Making his fist and watching Katie make her fist and bump his and nod seriously.

JC was very amused on his end of the phone. He was also running late. “Shi… oot. Chris, I’ve got to go dude. I’ll talk to you later. Katie, nice meeting you. Thanks for saving Chris.”

“Ok, bye!” Katie waved at the phone and Chris mimicked her before punching the off button.

“I’m just going to put these in the dishwasher and we’ll go pick up Jimmy. Can you go grab your shoes?”

“Yes!” she yelled and jumped off the chair nearly giving Chris a heart attack, before racing to get her shoes.

Maybe he’d better rethink the cookie project he had brought supplies for. The thought made him frown. He was looking forward to that himself. No need to deprive the kids. He grinned and flipped on the dishwasher.

Two hours later the smell of cookies was spreading through the house and two kids were freshly washed up and working on a puzzle at the island in the kitchen.

“The flat edges are the outside. Like a picture frame.” Chris reminded Katie. It wasn’t a huge puzzle, just huge pieces, easy for both age groups.

“This is too hard!” She pouted and crossed her little arms across her chest.

James rolled his eyes a little, fitting another piece in place. “Not for me.”

“That’s cause you’re older!” Her lip was in danger of hitting the table Chris thought.

Katie plus sugar sometimes meant cranky, which meant time to put the real food on. She loved to cook so he’d let her help and see if that helped her mood.

“Kittie Katie, should we have garlic bread tonight with our spaghetti?” he started pulling the stuff out for the salad so she could rip the lettuce apart.

“I don’t care!” She wouldn’t even look over.

“You wanna help with the salad?”

“No!”

Oh boy. He sighed deeply. “Well, I guess we won’t have a very good salad, I don’t know how to do the lettuce like you do.” He set to rinsing all the veggies and sighed again. “I hope your dad likes it the way I make it. He likes your way an awful lot.” She had looked over as he put the lettuce on the strainer to drain and moved to wash the tomatoes.

She was torn. She knew her daddy liked her salad. He always said so. Her lip didn’t pooch out as much as she thought about it. Chris might mess it up.

Chris put the cucumbers next to the tomatoes, catching sight of Katie sliding off the chair by the island and bringing her step stool over to the counter.

“I better do the lettuce.” She said in the knowing tone of a twenty year old.

Chris sighed, a relieved expression crossing his face. “Oh, thank you Katie.” Giving her a hug “you know I worry about him eating well.” He ripped the lettuce in half for her and started to peel the cucumbers. “Who knows what he eats at the office, or even if they give him a lunch break. Did you ask him?”

Her forehead was wrinkled in concentration and she ripped a big lettuce leaf apart into the bowl. “Yes. He said he gets almost one whole hour for lunch. I told him we could make him lunch like Jimmy. Peanut butter sammiches.”

“I don’t like peanut butter.”

“You always eat peanut butter.” Chris looked back over his shoulder.

Jimmy looked up “Not since I was 6 or something.”

“Oh… that’s right. You turned 6 and a half over the weekend didn’t you?” Chris remembered those days where every other second you loved or hated something. “Do you still like spaghetti?”

“Of course I do!” Jimmy’s tone was incredulous as he fitted another piece of puzzle in place.

Chris chuckled and bent to pull the cookies out of the oven when the timer went off. Making a mental note to remind Lance not to make PB&J and find out where he got the Spiderman timer.


End file.
